


Light Stalking

by smarshtastic



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Blackwatch Era, Blackwatch Genji Shimada, Friendship, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Mission Fic, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 12:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15024425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smarshtastic/pseuds/smarshtastic
Summary: Commander Reyes and McCree keep disappearing. Genji doesn’t put it together at first - not for a while - but there was a night where he needed Reyes for something, and when he couldn’t find him, Genji went to look for McCree instead, but couldn’t find him either. Nobody could tell him where either Reyes or McCree was.---Genji enlists the Blackwatch strike team to track down Commander Reyes and McCree.





	Light Stalking

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fabrega](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabrega/gifts).



> It's the last day of [Blackwatch Week](https://blackwatchweek.tumblr.com/)! Day 7: Stake Out/Night Off. 
> 
> Huge thank you to [fabrega](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabrega/) for her super beta skills as well as her endless encouragement. I couldn't do it without her ♥ 
> 
> You can find me on [tumblr](http://wictorwictor.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/smarshtastic)!

Commander Reyes and McCree keep disappearing. Genji doesn’t put it together at first - not for a while - but there was a night where he needed Reyes for something, and when he couldn’t find him, Genji went to look for McCree instead, but couldn’t find  _ him  _ either. Nobody could tell him where either Reyes or McCree was. 

Even more strangely, nobody seemed particularly worried that they didn’t know where Blackwatch’s commander or Blackwatch’s second-in-command were. They reappeared the next day, on time for the morning’s briefing and looking the same as ever. 

It was perplexing. 

Genji starts keeping track. If he can’t find Reyes, he’d go looking for McCree, and vice versa. He starts noticing patterns. It happens one night a week, every other week. Genji breaks into the base’s access records, but there isn’t any indication that either Reyes or McCree was leaving the base. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything; Genji is well acquainted with all the ways someone could sneak around and off the base and he still has some tricks up his sleeve, all the way back from his wayward youth. But still - nobody can account for their whereabouts. They always turn up the next morning, though. They never miss a morning training or briefing, and neither of them make reference to their activities from the previous night. 

Genji ends up doing something he doesn’t really want to do: talk to the strike team. 

Reyes’ core strike team is comprised of an array of characters that Genji normally avoids as much as possible. He finds Shiga terribly annoying, and Jayachandran tends to feed off his energy. Edwards is insufferable, always playing the victim. Tack Newton is quiet - perhaps the least obnoxious of the bunch - but his twin sister Wake more than makes up for it with her perpetual chatter, unending jokes, and off-tune singing. 

Genji doesn’t mind Valdez, though. She mostly leaves Genji alone - unlike most of the other medical staff on base - which Genji appreciates. Besides, she’s tougher than maybe all of them combined. Genji respects that. 

Still, the strike team members are not Genji’s people. Genji was not recruited to be on the commander’s strike team: he is an asset, a prize that was won, a weapon to be wielded against their enemies. The strike team are not friends. 

So Genji doesn’t bring up the subject of Reyes and McCree’s periodic disappearances for some time. 

The opportunity arises one afternoon as Genji is assigned to taking inventory of their weapon supplies with Valdez, Shiga and Jayachandran. He keeps to himself in a corner of the storage room, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled low over his forehead, listening to Shiga and Jayachandran’s banter. 

“I swear it looked like Jesse was going to pop a vein in his forehead or something,” Shiga is saying, laughing. “I don’t think Reyes has ever done something like that before.”

Jayachandran laughs, and Valdez even joins in. Genji half turns away from the shelf of grenades he’s supposed to be counting. 

“Have you noticed they disappear from time to time?” Genji asks, trying to keep his voice casual. The other three stop laughing. Genji can feel all of their eyes on him. He tugs the sleeve of his left arm down further, turning back to the shelf. “Always at the same time.”

There’s a pause. Out of the corner of his eye, Genji sees Shiga and Jayachandran exchange a look. 

“Yeah?” Jayachandran asks. “That’s weird.”

“Have you noticed?” Genji asks. 

“I dunno,” Shiga says. “Doesn’t surprise me, though.”

That takes Genji by surprise. He turns to face them fully. 

“It doesn’t?”

“Nah. I mean, we’re all spies, right? Maybe they’re just doing it to see if someone notices, like a test.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Valdez says. Genji is almost disappointed by how reasonable she sounds. 

“You never know! I wouldn’t put it past them,” Shiga says. 

Genji takes a step towards them, but hesitates again. He tugs on the sleeve of his sweatshirt, hating how self-conscious he feels in front of these people. He swallows down the self-loathing that smolders in his chest. Now is not the time. 

“There’s a pattern,” Genji says. “Once every other week, and they’re both gone.”

“Huh,” Jayachandran says. Their utter lack of curiosity is beginning to annoy Genji. 

“Don’t you want to know where they go?”

Shiga glances at Valdez, but her face remains more or less neutral. 

“I mean, I guess?” Shiga says. Genji wonders why he thought it was a good idea to bring this matter up to these people in the first place. 

“What are you suggesting?” Valdez asks. Genji turns to her. He knew she’d be the reasonable one. He makes a decision. He pushed the hood of his sweatshirt back. 

“We should follow them.”

=-=-=

It takes surprisingly little convincing to get the rest of the strike team on board. Genji wishes that they hadn’t involved the Newton twins or Edwards, but they might need a shuttle or tech expertise and the three of them are undeniably the best there is. Once they hear Genji’s story, they’re all eager to be involved.

“It’s your mission,” Valdez says at one point. She, Genji, Shiga and Jayachandran are sitting in the mess hall catching a late lunch before their next round of debriefings. “You should run point.”

Genji blinks. He hadn’t been expecting that. He looks at her suspiciously. 

“I thought you were running it,” Genji says. Valdez raises an eyebrow. 

“It was your idea,” she says. 

“You want to get me in trouble,” he says flatly, leaning back in his seat. This was a bad idea. 

Strangely, unexpectedly, something like hurt crosses Valdez’s face. She clenches her jaw and levels a look at him. 

“If you go down for this, we’re all going down for this,” she says. “We’re a team.”

Genji blinks at her. He doesn’t know what to say - he certainly wasn’t expecting that. He drops his gaze back to his tray and pushes some food around, trying to wrap his head around the implications. 

“Very well,” he says. He lifts his eyes back to her face. “If the pattern I observed is correct, then they will disappear tomorrow night.”

“We better get moving then,” Jayachandran says cheerfully.

It comes together seamlessly after that. Shiga is assigned to follow McCree and Jayachandran to Commander Reyes. Edwards is monitoring all access points, while the Newton twins are stationed in the shuttle bay in case either McCree or Reyes attempt to leave by shuttle. Valdez and Genji ensconce themselves in one of the off-duty lounges to monitor their communications and run point. 

Genji fidgets in his seat across from Valdez. It’s a strange thing, working on a team like this. He was worried it was an elaborate prank they were playing on him - some way to mark him as an outsider, to ridicule his body, his existence - but the strike team is… oddly welcoming. Accepting. They treat him like he’s part of the team. It doesn’t feel right to Genji. He’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

“Shiga, checking in,” Shiga says over the comms. 

“Jayachandran here.”

“Newtons in place.”

“I’ve got eyes on the access point,” Edwards says. “Are you sure I can’t come up to the lounge?”

“Yes,” Valdez says. She looks at Genji and rolls her eyes. He blinks back at her, not sure what to do with that. 

“I’ve got eyes on McCree. Going silent,” Shiga says, saving Genji from having to formulate a response. He hears Shiga call out, “Hey! Jesse!” 

When Jayachandran makes contact with Reyes, Valdez leans back in her seat, kicking her feet up onto an empty chair. Genji is still sitting rigidly. He’s not used to being behind the scenes like this, out of the action. It’s making him itchy. He tries listening to the chatter over the comms. His eyes slide to Valdez and is surprised to find her looking at him. He blinks. 

“Why are you helping me?” he blurts out without meaning to. Valdez shrugs. 

“I love a good intrigue,” she says. Genji frowns. 

“Don’t mock me.”

Valdez’s expression softens. It’s not pity, which Genji is used to seeing in the eyes of people around here, but something else that he can’t quite put his finger on. 

“I’m just as curious as you are,” she says. “Believe it or not, we care about Reyes and McCree. It’s weird that they’d disappear without logging it. It’s not what we do.”

Genji considers this for a few moments. The chatter from the comms fills the silence. Finally, Genji looks at Valdez again. 

“You really don’t know?” he asks. Valdez shakes her head. 

“I don’t know if anyone else put the pattern together,” she says. “We would’ve noticed if it caused a problem, maybe, but Reyes and McCree are good at what they do.”

“Heeey, Mikey?” Shiga says over the comms. 

“Don’t call me that,” Edward says. 

“You’ve got eyes on access points, right?”

“You mean ‘am I doing my job?’”

“Well, yeah, but I don’t mean it like I’m questioning your abilities or anything.”

“Look -”

“What do you need, Shiga?” Valdez interrupts, leaning forward and swinging her legs back down to the floor. Genji leans forward too. He didn’t expect a resolution so quickly. 

“I sort of, uh, lost Jesse.”

Valdez blinks at the comm. She lifts her eyes to give Genji an exasperated look. It takes Genji a moment to realize that she’s not directing it at him. 

“What do you mean you lost Jesse? You were just talking to him.”

“I don’t know! He’s gone.”

Valdez rubs her temple with the tips of her fingers. 

“Okay, retrace your steps. Edwards, double check exits. Wake, Tack, anything?”

“All’s quiet on the western front,” Wake says, as chipper as ever. 

“The shuttle bay is on the  _ north _ side of the base,” Tack says. 

“I know that! It’s a saying, Tacky.”

“Alright, you two. Edwards? Anything?”

“Nothing on the exits,” Edwards says. Genji can hear him typing over the comms. 

“He’s not a ghost, he didn’t just disappear into thin air,” Valdez says. “Prithi? Do you still have eyes on Reyes?”

There’s a long pause before they get the confirmation from Jayachandran - coded, she must be either talking to Reyes or within earshot. Valdez sits back in her seat. 

“Well, that’s at least half of the equation,” she says. “Shiga? Anything?”

“Nothing. You’d think with all the jangling his stupid belt buckle does we’d be able to keep better track of him -”

“Reyes is gone,” Jayachandran says suddenly. 

“ _ What _ ? I thought you just had eyes on him,” Valdez says. 

“I did! I barely blinked -”

“We got out-spied,” Shiga groans. “We’re the  _ worst _ spies.”

“Let’s not give up just yet,” Valdez says. “Keep looking.”

They spend the rest of the night looking, but they don’t find a trace of either McCree or Reyes. It’s like they evaporated. 

“Maybe they invented teleportation when we weren’t looking,” Shiga suggests at one point. “Maybe Dr. O’Deorain did and they just haven’t told us.”

“Do you think she has?” Genji asks, leaning forward. Shiga shrugs. 

“I mean, I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“Let’s think about things that are actually within the realm of possibilities?” Valdez says, exasperation creeping into her voice. It’s late - or early, depending on your point of view - and they’ve spent the entire night going over the base with a fine tooth comb. None of them have been able to find McCree or Reyes and the mystery of their disappearance has now fully sunk its claws into every member of the strike team. They’ve all gathered in the off-duty lounge, sprawled over the furniture and poking listlessly at their respective tablets. 

“I just don’t know how they’d manage to disappear like that, though,” Edwards says for perhaps the hundredth time. He’s done nothing to endear himself to Genji, who has mostly spent the night wondering why exactly Edwards is on the strike team in the first place. 

“We know,” Jayachandran says. “None of us get it.”

“Can you check their room logs again, Edwards?” Valdez asks. 

“We would’ve seen them come in,” Tack says. He brings up another view of the shuttle bay on his tablet, swiping through the feeds without much hope of seeing anything. 

“We didn’t see them leave,” Wake points out. “We  _ for sure _ wouldn’t see them come back either.”

“You never know,” Tack says. The twins start bickering again and Genji tunes them out, turning his attention to the window which overlooks the grounds below. The sun is beginning to peek over the horizon, warming the landscape with pinks and golds. Though he managed to accomplish exactly nothing, Genji, strangely, doesn’t feel like the night was a total waste. He sneaks a glance at Valdez again. Her brow is furrowed, her hair coming loose from the bun that had been tight at the back of her head when the night began. She doesn’t look tired, though - none of the strike team does. They’re used to this sort of thing. Genji has to admire that, at least. For all their bickering, it’s never about the time or the effort their mission has cost them; it’s always frustration about their lack of answers. 

When the sun is almost fully risen, Valdez sets her tablet down. 

“Look, we all have a debrief this morning. We should grab some coffee and head over,” she says.

“I’m keeping an eye on this,” Edwards says, waving his own tablet. “It’s just not  _ possible _ .”

Everyone shuffles out, making their way down to the mess hall for a coffee stop before they go to Blackwatch’s designated meeting room. Genji hangs back and then falls into step next to Valdez. 

“Sorry we couldn’t find anything,” she says, surprising Genji. His step falters but he keeps going, looking at her sideways. “I really thought we had them.”

“I suppose they’re better spies than we are,” Genji says, almost slyly, trying out the joke with an unpracticed hesitation. He used to be charming, funny, rakish - he feels like none of those things anymore, and the tone feels strange in his mouth. Valdez lets out a little laugh, surprising Genji yet again. 

“Yeah, well. They’re in charge for a reason, right?”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“You know what you’ve done, now?”

Genji blinks and shakes his head. Valdez nods to the rest of the strike team walking down the hall ahead of them. 

“You’ve got them hooked,” she says. “Once they get something into their heads, they’re like a dog with a bone. They’re not going to give it up.”

Genji looks at her. “No?”

“Definitely not,” Valdez says firmly. They step into the mess, which is already busy with Overwatch’s early risers. Suddenly feeling self-conscious again, Genji pulls the hood of his sweatshirt back up. “When’s the next scheduled disappearance, then?”

“Two weeks,” he says. Valdez gives him a short nod. 

“We’ll be there,” she says before she moves away to the coffee station. Genji stands there a moment, baffled by this entire situation. As he stands there, he spots McCree as he ambles into the mess, whistling tunelessly, his belt jangling as he walks. 

=-=-=

The next scheduled disappearance of McCree and Commander Reyes rolls around, and the strike team gathers in the off-duty lounge two nights before to strategize. They follow a similar system as before, though they set up all their monitoring protocols that night just to be exceptionally sure that nothing funny is going on before the disappearance is supposed to occur. 

Somehow, inexplicably, they manage to lose both McCree and Reyes almost immediately after they settle in for the evening’s surveillance. Everyone is stumped: they had eyes on both men for hours before they began their observation in earnest, but, once again, McCree and Reyes evade every single one of them without even trying. 

Genji paces the off-duty lounge, simmering, while the strike team tries to put the missing pieces together. 

“It’s impossible,” Shiga declares. “It’s literally impossible.”

“If it was impossible, we’d have found them by now,” Jayachandran points out. 

“We’re definitely missing something,” Edwards says without looking up from his tablet. His brow is furrowed as he types. “We have to be.” 

Genji wants to snap at them, to tell them all to shut up, but he holds his tongue. As much as it pains him to listen to their inane bickering, he needs their help to figure this out. 

He doesn’t know why he’s so invested in this. 

“We’ll start again,” Valdez says. Genji pauses mid-stride to look at her. She meets his eyes. “Tomorrow. First thing. Are we up for an honest-to-god stake out?”

=-=-=

They take shifts. For the next two weeks, Genji and Commander Reyes’ strike team stalks both the commander and McCree, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  

It is excruciatingly boring. 

At some point in the middle of the night, while hanging out in an air duct above the hallway just outside of McCree’s quarters, Genji is glad that he isn’t part of Commander Reyes’ core strike team. Not if  _ this  _ is what it was about all the time. He’ll take the one-off, high pressure, dangerous missions over this any day. At least those were over quickly.

He has, however, grown to - well, if not  _ like  _ the entire strike team, at least tolerate them. He especially appreciates the fact that he’s gotten to know Valdez over the last few weeks. She’s sharp, strong, no-nonsense. In another life, Genji would’ve made a pass at her, but, in his current situation, that feels ill-advised at best, and potentially deeply embarrassing at worst. So he admires her from afar, trying not to let the resentment at his condition that he feels simmering under the surface boil over. For the first time in a long time, Genji wants to make a good impression. He actually cares what Valdez thinks of him. That in itself is a strange new feeling, these days. Genji tries not to think about it. 

If he’s being really honest with himself, Genji would even admit that he’s been charmed by Shiga, too. Shiga would probably be even more freaked out than Valdez if Genji attempted to propose anything between them, so he keeps his mouth shut. 

The fact that Genji is feeling anything other than anger and resentment at all is novel enough. Maybe there’s something to be said for these endless stake outs; he’s had a lot of time to think. 

In the days leading up to the scheduled disappearance, Genji and the strike team don’t record any unusual activity. It’s been suddenly busy for Blackwatch - when is it not? - so the unsanctioned stake out on their commanding officer and his second in command has taken its toll on the strike team. They’re exhausted, stretched to their limits. But they’re close. 

“We’re gonna figure it out this time,” Wake declares as the strike team spreads out to cover as much ground as possible. They’ve largely given up on trying to tail McCree or Reyes, and have instead decided to monitor exits and all vehicles. Genji still insists on following McCree, so Valdez ends up following Reyes. “I have a good feeling about this.”

“You said that last time,” Edwards says, the irritation clear in his voice. He had just landed this afternoon after a particularly unpleasant op which apparently involved sharing a very cramped van with several unwashed techs. They haven’t heard the end of it since he got in.  

“Last time I was just trying to keep everyone positive,” Wake says. “I really mean it this time. I think we’ve got it.”

“Let’s not count our chickens,” Valdez says. “I’ve got eyes on Reyes. Shimada?”

“I’m on McCree,” Genji confirms. McCree has spent most of the evening working through reports in one of the Blackwatch conference rooms, tablets spread out on the table around him. 

“Alright people,” Valdez says. “Report any movement. We got this.”

Genji settles in for another boring evening, feeling far less optimistic than the rest of the strike team. If this doesn’t work, he’s ready to give up. He’s already wasted enough time trying to figure out what is going on, and surely no answer he’s going to get at this point is going to be satisfying enough to warrant the weeks of work Genji has poured into this whole thing. 

He does wonder, though, if he’ll be able to work with the strike team again. It doesn’t sound like a terrible possibility anymore. 

Although, he hopes he never has to do another stake out again. 

Below Genji’s air duct, McCree pauses to check the time. Genji does the same: 19:00, on the dot. McCree gathers up his tablets, stacking them neatly before he stands and walks out of the room. Genji doesn’t wait before he scrambles after him, his feet whisper quiet even on the noisy metal of the duct. 

“Following McCree,” Genji says quietly into the comms. “Heading down the south hallway.”

“Stay on him,” Valdez says, a bit unnecessarily - as if Genji was going to wander away. He hopes she thinks better of him at this point. “Reyes is still in his office.”

Genji follows McCree to the locker room outside of the sparring gym Blackwatch makes generous use of. He has to maneuver between two different sets of ducts, but when Genji finally gets into the space above the rows of lockers, he still hears McCree’s off-tune whistling. Genji creeps along the duct until he’s able to get a visual on McCree. He catches him changing out of his Blackwatch uniform. But, instead of putting on gym gear like Genji expects, McCree pulls out  _ slacks _ . Slacks and a button down. And - is that a sports coat?

Baffled, Genji watches McCree get dressed up. He’s never seen McCree dress like this outside of missions that require a certain dress code - McCree’s off-duty gear is mostly jeans and old t-shirts with sayings that almost make Genji laugh. McCree is fussing with his hair in one of the mirrors at the end of the row of lockers, smoothing it back and away from his face. He straightens his collar and then stands back, looking at his expression critically. After a moment, seemingly satisfied, McCree turns to leave the locker room. 

Genji follows, all his earlier irritation about the mysterious disappearances of McCree and Reyes having almost entirely melted away. Maybe Wake Newton was right: maybe they were close to cracking this case. It certainly feels that way. 

“Leaving the locker room now,” Genji whispers into the comm. “McCree changed his clothes.”

“Reyes is on the move now too. He’s out of uniform. Heading down the northwest hallway.”

“We’ve got eyes on the shuttles,” Wake says. “Tack’s watching the garage.”

“I think we’re headed your way,” Valdez says. There’s a note of excitement in her voice that Genji hasn’t heard before. The answer to their weeks-long mystery feels tantalizingly close. It’s going to be a huge disappointment if they fail to resolve it now. 

Genji follows McCree through the familiar halls of the Blackwatch annex to the less familiar halls of Overwatch proper. Genji immediately feels out of place, even up here in the air ducts. When Overwatch brought him in, half-dead and in pieces, it was always understood that Genji would be behind the scenes, an asset to Blackwatch, to be neither seen nor heard. He hasn’t spent any time outside of the Blackwatch annex except when he’s deployed on missions, so the layout of the building he’s following McCree through is almost completely unfamiliar. He’s glad he paid attention when he and Valdez reviewed blueprints. 

McCree walks with purpose, whistling as he goes. He’s not trying to avoid being seen - how had they managed to lose him so easily before? Genji has a fleeting thought that maybe Shiga and Jayachandran aren’t as good as they’re purported to be. 

“He’s just - he’s walking out of the front door,” Genji says incredulously. 

“What?” Edwards says over the comms. 

“He’s walking out of the front door,” Genji says again. He waits a moment for McCree to step ahead of him. He finds a safe place to drop out of the air duct, landing without a sound. He follows McCree’s path out the front door, just in time to watch McCree get into the back of a cab. 

“He’s getting in a cab,” Genji says, tucking himself into the bushes that flank the front steps of Overwatch’s headquarters. 

“What’s the cab number?” Jayachandran asks. Genji reads her the number and hears typing on her end. 

“Reyes is getting in a truck,” Valdez says suddenly. 

“Another cab?” Jayachandran asks. 

“No - an Overwatch vehicle.”

“One we tagged?” Wake asks. 

“I don’t think so. It’s unmarked. We only tagged Blackwatch vehicles, right?”

“It made sense at the time,” Wake says. Genji can practically hear the face she’s making over the comms. He silently agrees; that was an oversight they shouldn’t have missed. 

“Okay - we’ve got a read on the cab, we’ll know where it ends up,” Jayachandran says. “Stef, you have to follow Reyes in the usual way.”

“Right. Shimada, are you still up front?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll pick you up.”

Valdez reads off the license plate for Jayachandran while Edwards works his magic within Overwatch’s computer systems. Why they didn’t think to more closely monitor Overwatch proper’s systems is beyond Genji - it seems so obvious now. He fidgets in the shrubbery, listening to the efficient chatter over the comms, punctuated by Wake’s color commentary. A few moments later, an unmarked vehicle pulls up in front of the building. The tinted window on the passenger’s side rolls down and Valdez leans across the seat. 

“Shimada?” she asks. Genji pops out of the bushes and slides into the front seat. “Buckle up. We’ve got some catching up to do.”

Genji did not expect Valdez to be such an aggressive driver. Presumably, Blackwatch agents, or at least the commander’s strike team, had to undergo some kind of vehicular pursuit training - or perhaps it was a skill left over from Valdez’s stint in the Marines - but it seems jarringly in contrast to Valdez’s otherwise deliberate and precise style. Genji finds himself gripping the door handle as Valdez takes turns too sharply, speeding to close the distance between them and Reyes’ vehicle. 

“You’re 500 meters away,” Edwards says into their ears. “Make a left up ahead.”

Valdez turns, the wheels squealing just a little bit. Genji winces. 

“There,” she says. “I’ve got visual.”

“Great,” Jayachandran says. She sounds almost giddy. “You’re closing in on the location the cab company reported as the destination of that cab’s last fare.”

Valdez slows, allowing another car to pass ahead of her. Genji can still see Reyes’s car. He watches as it pulls into a spot in front of a small restaurant with a pleasantly candle-lit patio. Reyes steps out of the car and glances both ways down the street as he rebuttons his own suit jacket. He steps into the restaurant. 

“It’s a restaurant,” Genji says. 

“I’m looking into mob ties now,” Shiga says. “Or other illicit activities.”

“We’re circling the block,” Valdez says. “Hurry up, I don’t want to lose them.”

“I dunno, Stef, it looks clean,” Shiga says. “They won an award for sustainable farm to table practices last year.”

“There’s gotta be something.”

“There’s a picture of the chef hand feeding a baby lamb?”

Valdez makes a frustrated noise. Genji glances at her. 

“Why don’t we just go inside?” he asks. Valdez blinks at him. She opens her mouth to say something, then reconsiders, her face thoughtful. 

“Put your hood up. We’re tourists, alright? We don’t speak the language,” Valdez says. She pulls the car into a spot along the back of the restaurant, with a view of the back door. There’s a dishwasher smoking, but otherwise the back looks clean. “Did you catch that, Prithi?”

“10-4. We’ll keep eyes on you,” she says. 

“Fred? Keep looking.”

“Roger that.”

Valdez looks at Genji. “Let’s do this.”

The restaurant is lit specifically for creating an ambiance, full of flickering candles and shadows that afford its diners a sense of privacy. Each booth is ensconced in its own little alcove, set into the walls along the main dining room floor, which is arranged in such a way that even the freestanding tables have ample space between them. Genji stands close to Valdez’s side, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light. He hopes his cybernetics aren’t obvious in the dark room - he knows how his eyes glow these days. 

Genji spots them. 

It takes him a moment for his mind to catch up with what he’s seeing - he isn’t sure how to process it. What he sees is this:

Commander Gabriel Reyes, hero of the Omnic Crisis and leader of the world’s most elite black ops organization, sitting across from Jesse McCree, a former gangbanger and essentially Blackwatch’s second in command. Their hands are intertwined, resting in the middle of the table. McCree is smiling, big and and open, at Reyes. As Genji watches, McCree covers Reyes’s hand with his other one, clasping it between his palms. Reyes ducks his head. He’s  _ smiling _ and - is he  _ blushing _ ?

Genji isn’t 100% certain that he can actually short circuit, but if he can, he’s pretty close to doing so now. 

At his side, Valdez seems to be having a similar reaction. 

“Guys? Guys? Are you there? Did you confirm visual?” Jayachandran asks over the comms. 

“Uhh,” Valdez says, uncharacteristically unable to find the words to speak. 

McCree turns his head and beckons to them. Neither of them move. McCree rolls his eyes. 

“Valdez, Shimada, come over here,” he says clearly. Reyes turns his head and looks at them too, the smile on his lips fading into something less warm and more… threatening? Valdez starts walking, her steps jerky. Genji follows, though he has the distinct feeling he’s walking into a trap. 

“We made contact,” Valdez murmurs. 

“Wait - contact? What are you talking about, Stef?”

Valdez stops at the edge of the table that McCree and Reyes are sitting at. Genji stops next to her. Looking down, he sees that they’re still holding hands. 

“So,” McCree says, leaning back in his seat. His fingers are idly running over Reyes’ hand. Reyes doesn’t pull away. “You found us.”

“Stef? Shimada? Are you guys there?”

“Found you?” Valdez echoes. 

“We know you had the whole strike team tailing us,” McCree says. His tone is casual, his body relaxed. Genji still isn’t sure how to process this. “Why?”

Valdez doesn’t say anything. Genji looks at her, then looks at McCree. McCree raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything, letting the silence stretch on. Reyes’ unwavering gaze is unsettling. 

“You were disappearing,” Genji says finally, just to break the silence. Reyes turns his head to look at McCree, raising one eyebrow, but McCree only smiles wider. “Every other week. Both of you.”

“And you couldn’t leave well enough alone?”

“It was weird,” Valdez says. She adds, hastily, “Sir.”

McCree snorts. “Since when am I a ‘sir,’ Stef?”

Valdez’s cheeks go dark, her whole face scrunching up. McCree laughs. 

“You didn’t think you could just ask?”

Genji blinks. The thought had honestly never occurred to him - he’s only ever told as much information as deemed necessary for his assignments, and anything more than that was just noise. Furthermore, Genji has been certain that he didn’t have any sort of friendly relationship with anyone in Blackwatch. He wouldn’t think to ask such a strange question, at the risk of alienating himself even more, or being laughed at. Genji frowns at McCree and shakes his head. 

“They’re spies, Jesse. They like the intrigue,” Reyes says. There’s a twinkle in his eye that Genji hasn’t ever seen before. 

“Bad spies, if it took us being painfully obvious for them to finally crack the case,” McCree says. He looks back at Genji and Valdez. “You did figure it out, right?”

“You’re together?” Valdez asks, her voice coming out strained. McCree grins, lifting Reyes’ hand. He presses a kiss to the back of his hand, keeping his eyes on Genji and Valdez. Reyes clears his throat a little, color coming into his own cheeks again. 

“Jesse,” he says with a little headshake. McCree puts his hand back down on the table but still doesn’t pull away. 

“Took you long enough,” McCree says. “And I never thought we were particularly subtle.”

Valdez groans. “I owe Prithi  _ so _ much money.”

“You bet on it?” McCree asks, sounding almost offended. 

“Don’t tell me you’re actually surprised by that, Jesse,” Reyes says. McCree makes a face at him. 

“We deserve a cut!”

“Hold on - did you say you were being obvious about it?” Valdez says, suddenly coming back to herself as the initial shock finally starts to wears off. 

“We knew you had the whole team tailing us,” Reyes says. 

“You forget - we wrote the Blackwatch playbook,” McCree says. Valdez groans again. 

“We should’ve known better,” she says. 

“You probably should’ve,” Reyes says, nodding. “Now, can we enjoy our date or not? We only get to do this every few weeks.”

“Right - yeah. Sorry, sir. We’ll leave you to it,” Valdez says. She moves to go, but Reyes stops her again. 

“And you’re reporting back to the strike team, I’d imagine?”

Valdez hesitates. “They’ve been on the comms.”

Reyes glances at McCree. McCree shrugs. “It’s all above board - we filled out the paperwork.”

“I don’t think we have to explain why it’s important that the details of our relationship stay private, right?” Reyes says. Valdez shakes her head. 

“No sir.”

“Good. Now, go back to the base so we can pretend not to think about work for a couple of hours.”

Valdez and Genji finally turn away from the table.

“Wait,” McCree says before they get too far away. Valdez and Genji pause, turning back to the table. “How did Shimada get all wrapped up in this?”

“Oh. It was his idea,” Valdez says. Genji tugs on the sleeve of his sweatshirt and shrugs.

“I thought it was odd,” Genji mumbles. He peeks up at them, but both McCree and Reyes look more amused than anything else. 

“Welcome to Blackwatch, Shimada. You fit right in,” McCree says with a laugh. Reyes smiles wider. A strange feeling blossoms through Genji’s chest - it’s overwhelming. Everything about this night had been overwhelming. He risks a look at Valdez, who gives him a small smile of her own. 

Maybe Genji belongs here after all. 


End file.
